Lakota superintendent search cut to 8 candidates

The pool of 16 candidates revealed earlier this week as vying to be Lakota Schools' next superintendent has already been cut in half.

In the wake of a Thursday executive session that included discussions of the pending hire, the Lakota Board of Education today announced there are now eight candidates being considered for the district’s top job.

The eight remaining candidates are:

  • Adam C. Bird, superintendent New Richmond Schools.
  • Matthew W. Chrispin superintendent Fredericktown Schools.
  • Scott Hunt, superintendent Cardinal Local Schools.

  • Keith Kline, superintendent West Clermont Schools.
  • Carl R. Metzger, assistant superintendent South-Western Schools.
  • Matthew Miller, superintendent Mentor Schools.
  • Scott D. Nelson, superintendent Sylvania Schools.
  • Steven C. Skalka, superintendent East China Schools, East China, Michigan.

All eight have superintendent experience, and all but Skalka are from Ohio schools.

Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia was granted medical leave from the job in late August. She was in the final year of her contract and the board replaced her with Acting Superintendent Robb Vogelmann, who is not among the remaining candidates.

Applications — first obtained Wednesday by the Journal-News through an Ohio Public Records request — revealed an original pool of 16 candidates competing to be the next leader of 16,500-student Lakota Schools.

Lakota School Board President Ben Dibble said the remaining dozen candidates will be invited “to participate in the first round of interviews, scheduled for Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.”

“Every step of this process has involved careful and thorough consideration of what Lakota needs most in its next leader to continue providing the highest quality education to our students and our community,” said Dibble.

“The role of superintendent is very demanding,” he said. “We are one of the largest school districts in Ohio and we have a very diverse group of students all with varying levels of needs. The board felt strongly that prior experience with this position would help our district continue to make progress and lead to better opportunities for our students and our community.”

The new superintendent for Ohio’s eighth-largest district would begin working Aug. 1.

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